


Cards on the Table

by S_Horne



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-18 14:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13683576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Horne/pseuds/S_Horne
Summary: Stiles shook his head as he pulled his hands back and stared determinedly at Derek. “This is what you wanted.”Derek startled, a whole body movement that ended with him staring at Stiles like he was crazy. “What?”“This!” Stiles cried, gesturing between them. “This is what you wanted, me and you – tonight.”“What?” Derek asked again./Stiles goes to Derek's on Valentine's Day and misreads the situation





	1. A Little Bit Broken

“Derek?” Stiles called out as he pushed open the front door and stepped inside.

The apartment was dark when Stiles pulled the door shut behind him, all of the main lights switched off and no sign of the resident.

“In the kitchen!” Came the reply. Stiles moved into the apartment following Derek’s voice but stopped short when he reached the doorway of the kitchen. Derek was wearing an apron – only a plain black one but still, Derek Hale in an _apron_ – and was bent at the waist as he pulled a dish out of the oven. There was a salad and a loaf of bread already on the side and the dining table was set with two plates, napkins and wine glasses. There were candles everywhere, flickering tea lights placed on the counters and tall pillar candles in the centre of the table. Stiles startled but a small smile quickly began to stretch across his face as the sight sunk in. Derek set the dish on the side and turned to greet his guest with his own smile.

“Hi,” he said, “Open that?”

He gestured his head to the bottle of the wine near his elbow as he began to move the food across to the table. Stiles jumped into action and quickly poured the wine, taking a generous sip from his own glass as he sat Derek’s down on the table.

“What’s all this in aid of?” Stiles asked, slightly bemused at the picture that Derek made. Derek had invited him over to share his findings on some pack research he’d been asked to do about a strange smell in the woods but Stiles had been expecting, well... Not this.

Derek focused on serving the food as he only shrugged in reply. Stiles let it go with another strange look towards his friend but took a seat as Derek brought the food over.

“It smells good,” he commented as he held out his plate to be served a generous helping with a cheeky grin.

Derek chuckled and shook his head even as he took Stiles’ dish to load it up.

“Thanks,” Derek said as he sat opposite Stiles, handing him back his plate. “It was my mom’s recipe. I haven’t made it in a while but I thought it would make a welcome change to greasy take out.”

That brought a gentle smile to Stiles’ face and he reached out a hand to squeeze Derek’s gently. “Whilst I am not opposed to some greasy take out, I am willing to put it aside for this – just this once, though, I hope you understand! Back to clogging my arteries up next week as usual.”

Their conversation flowed easily throughout the meal as the two men caught up, swapping stories about anything and everything but the pack and the research that Stiles had supposedly come over for.

“She said what?” Stiles burst into unrestrained laughter at Derek’s retelling of his run in with Mrs. Robinson from the PTA and the Neighbourhood watch, and, well, just about every town organisation there was.

“It’s not funny,” Derek pouted. “She wants me to volunteer for the Saturday reading group too!”

“Stop it!” Stiles begged, “I can’t–,” he burst into peals of laughter again as hid mind conjured up pictures of Derek volunteering at the library to read to the children that attended the Saturday morning group sessions, complete with puppets and different voices for the numerous characters. (Stiles had been roped in to lead his fair share of the meetings.)

Derek rolled his eyes when Stiles continued to laugh but a smile tugged at his lips as he watched his friend and willingly let himself be teased mercilessly but not cruelly – a distinction that had taken him a while to recognise.

Once the meal was finished Stiles took the plates over to the side as Derek brought out a box of chocolates from one of the cupboards. Stiles eyed them and looked up to Derek quickly, scanning his face for something that he wasn’t sure he would find. Derek lifted an eyebrow at Stiles’ reaction but the younger man shook it off and reached eagerly for the box, opening them as he headed into the living room. He noticed that the fireplace had been lit, a roaring fire making the room comfortable – and dare he say it, _romantic,_ – and smiled softly to himself. Maybe he wasn’t as alone in his feelings as he had thought he was.

“I’m glad you came over tonight,” Derek said as he followed Stiles into the living room. He leant forward to place their wine glasses onto the coffee table as he took a seat next to Stiles on the couch.

“So am I,” Stiles replied. He moved closer to Derek as he threw the chocolates carelessly off to the side and suddenly surged forward. He pressed his lips against Derek’s as his hands came up to frame the elder’s face and stroked through his thick stubble. After a moment he realised that Derek was sitting completely still, lips not yielding to Stiles’ and his own hands lying perfectly motionless in his lap. The younger man pulled back, praying that Derek was just shocked or nervous but a horrible feeling built in his stomach and made him think that it was probably a bit worse than that.

“Stiles –”

The man in question shook his head as he pulled his hands back and stared determinedly at Derek. “This is what you wanted.”

Derek startled, a whole body movement that ended with him staring at Stiles like he was crazy. “What?”

“This!” Stiles cried, gesturing between them. “This is what you wanted, me and you – tonight.”

“What?” Derek asked again.

“Wait,” Stiles said, realisation dawning and horror soaking him like a cold shower. “This isn’t what you wanted?”

“No!” Derek replied vehemently.

“But…” Stiles continued, desperate to understand, “but you invited me here tonight!”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t meant to be any different to our usual weekly hangouts! We do this every week!”

“No, we don’t! We hang out on a Friday – today is a Wednesday!”

“Well, yeah but that’s because –”

“And you cooked; you don’t do that every week!”

“Okay, fine, but I didn’t think –”

“And you’ve got candles –”

“That’s because the power –”

“You said you were glad I came over –”

“Of course I am! I always want to see you, but I wanted the research that –”

“It’s Valentine’s Day!” Stiles exploded.

There was a long pause and Stiles’ cheeks flamed darker with each passing second.

“…What?” Derek eventually replied, his voice faint.

“Today!” Stiles reiterated, hands flying out with his desperate humiliation. “The 14th of February. Today; it’s Valentine’s Day!” Stiles’ voice trailed off as he noticed that Derek seemed to be in the middle of a realisation.

“I didn’t know,” Derek said finally. “I swear, Stiles. I didn’t realise.”

Stiles dropped his head as he was filled with embarrassment. He’d kind of been hoping that this was a misunderstanding and that Derek would dive right in, but now Stiles knew that he wasn’t going to. The happiness from the start of the night completely gone and was replaced with a burning behind his eyes and a suspicious lump in his throat.

“I cooked because I wanted to thank you for giving up another evening to research for the pack when you have so much else to be doing,” Derek explained. “I finished work early and had more time than usual, so I thought I’d use it. The fuses blew just before you arrived but I didn’t have enough time to go down and change it so I just got out the candles and lit the fireplace to make it a bit warmer in here. I honestly hadn’t realised that it was the fourteenth, although now that I think about it the pack have been making a lot of plans and were dropping a lot of hints when I said that you were coming over.”

“Please,” Stiles whispered, “please, just stop.” He was utterly mortified and couldn’t take any more of Derek’s sympathetic voice trying to explain how much of an assumption-making idiot Stiles had been. “Oh my God,” he muttered to himself. “I am such an idiot. Oh, God.”

Stiles had been in love with Derek for years. It had been no one but Derek for as long as he could remember. He hadn’t seen it coming; what started as an awkward crush had blossomed into something deep and powerful instead of just going away like he’d expected it to. It had taken Stiles a long time to come to terms with his feelings for the other man as the revelation that he maybe wasn’t as straight as he had once thought he was came in the middle of a somewhat-challenging time. Dealing with the loss of a parent, a hard-working single father who suddenly began working more shifts, his best friend being turned into a werewolf, constant fights with various supernatural creatures and trying to maintain a perfect GPA was a lot to deal with anyway and adding in the sexuality crisis when faced with a childhood crush who happened to be the nephew of the Alpha that turned said best friend into said supernatural creature was something that Stiles wasn’t really ready to deal with for a few years.

But eventually their lives had calmed down and the pack headed off to, completed, and returned from college and settled into somewhat normal lives. Derek had sorted himself out into a typical and functioning adult whilst they had been away. He had found a real place to live and a steady job, slowly but surely integrating himself back into society. They were good. Really good. They were a real pack; a _family._

And now Stiles had gone and done this. He’d ruined what relationship they had – and it had been a good one – and he had broken the trust that Derek had given to him oh so carefully.

Stiles had to leave. Oh, God, he had to leave right now.

He had been so careful to not alert Derek to his feelings, or to let any of the pack clue him in for that matter. It had taken the careful masking of his scent and slight embellishments of the truth when it came to stories of men he’d met at college but he had made it unscathed for nearly eight years. What the hell had he done now?

“Stiles,” Derek began, “wait –”

Stiles jumped from the couch faster than he had thought he could move without something chasing him.

“Where are you going?”

Derek’s question was asked to the room as Stiles was suddenly gone from the apartment, leaving behind only a sour-smelling cloud of embarrassment, rejection, and pain.


	2. But Still Perfect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I meant to do this yesterday but life honestly sucks so much. (Not much editing was done so please, please let me know if you spot mistakes)
> 
> Here it is now though! No rain kisses unfortunately but one commenter had definitely slipped into my notes somewhere and guessed the ending!!

Stiles had curled up on the couch immediately when he’d gotten home; his only stop had been the kitchen to grab as much junk food as he could carry into the living room before he'd thrown himself down. He was glad that he’d rented an apartment of his own when he had returned from college so that he didn’t have to face his dad after his, – god, what would he even say to describe it? - his _altercation_ with Derek. He’d chucked on a sad film before opening the first bag of chips and was trying to lie to himself that his tears were caused by the movie and not by the crack in his heart. Just as he reached for a carton of ice cream a knock sounded at the front door.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles said as he grabbed a spoon and dug in, knowing that it was Derek at the door without even having to answer it. He didn’t raise his voice as he knew that the wolf would be able to hear him through the door anyway. “The last thing you needed was someone kissing you without your permission like that and then shouting at you about it straight after. I shouldn’t have presumed that you would return my feelings.”

Derek knocked again and Stiles sighed deeply. He threw the blanket from his legs and stood up, pushing various open packets of chips to one side as he paused his film. He pulled open the front door but didn’t look at Derek, eyes staring intently down at his feet instead.

“I’ll finish the research on this big bad and pass the findings on to Scott before the next meeting,” Stiles said. “Don’t worry; I won’t be there.”

Stiles made to shut the door when he finished talking but Derek reached out his hand quickly to stop it from closing, holding it open as spoke earnestly.

“Stiles, wait – no. I’m the one who should be sorry. I should have realised what the date was and I should have realised what my set up would have looked like when I asked you over. And I should have noticed earlier.”

“Noticed what?” Stiles asked, lifting his gaze to eye Derek warily. When Derek didn’t answer Stiles sighed in defeat. “I have to go.”

“No, _wait_. Please?” Derek’s voice was bordering on pleading. “I’m sorry,” he said when Stiles didn’t make to leave again.

Stiles shrugged but said nothing.

“Honestly, Stiles, I am,” Derek continued intently. “I should have realised long before this evening that this was what I wanted. I think I did, I just wouldn’t let myself admit it.”

Stiles was quiet still as Derek tried to collect his thoughts.

“I never made the leap. I knew you were important; I missed you whenever you headed off to college and I felt safe whenever you were here. But after the several hundred near-death experiences I just never let myself feel too much, I guess.”

When Derek finished talking and hunched in on himself, Stiles stepped aside wordlessly. Derek looked up at Stiles in shock before his shoulders slumped in relief and he walked into Stiles’ apartment. Stiles followed him in until the two men stood in the living room awkwardly. Neither of them moved to sit down but stood facing each other just a few feet apart. Derek looked around but didn't comment on the mess that Stiles had managed to create in his misery.

“Here.” Derek suddenly held his hand out and shoved a drug-store brown paper bag towards Stiles. Stiles hadn’t even noticed that Derek had been holding anything before but reached out and took it with an uncertain look on his face, still not convinced that this wasn't a joke or another misunderstanding. Dragging his eyes away from Derek's, Stiles peered into the bag. Inside he found a bear. It was a stuffed brown toy with one ear sewn on backwards and clutching a red heart between its paws. The words ‘My Velentine’ were stitched onto the front of the plush material in a decidedly lopsided stitching. Stiles pulled it out hesitantly, glancing back at Derek. He took note of Derek’s suspiciously flushed cheeks before looking down at the other items in the bag. There was a velvet rose with a frayed ribbon wrapped around its stem and a small package of Reese's Pieces. Stiles looked up at Derek with a questioning gaze on his face.

“I had to go to three stores to find those,” Derek said as he nodded towards the chocolate in Stiles’ hand. “That's why it took me so long to get here; I was running around trying to find something to bring for you.”

At Stiles’ raised eyebrow Derek flushed an even darker red and turned his head to avoid Stiles’ gaze. “This is all that any of the stores had left this late on Valentine's Day; the cashier was judging me so hard when I bought those.” He shook his head with a self-deprecating huff before he continued, “hell, I was judging myself.”

“Why?” Stiles asked finally, still looking at Derek with an undefinable look on his face.

“Why was I judging myself?” Derek asked back before flicking his wrist towards Stiles' hands. "Look at what I got you."

“No,” Stiles rolled his eyes and shook the presents at Derek. “Why did you buy these? Why go to the trouble of doing this if…” Stiles let his question dangle in the air, not really wanting to say the words out loud.

“Because I’m tired of denying myself,” Derek said softly but surely. “I’m tired of pretending that I’m okay by myself, that I’m happy watching you leave and then going to sleep in an empty bed.”

“You’re allowed good things, Derek,” Stiles spoke gently. “You don’t have to keep punishing yourself for things that were always out of your control.” Stiles wasn’t even trying to get Derek to want him back now, he wasn’t trying to push him into a relationship. He genuinely wanted Derek to realise that he could have good things. Derek was doing so well, so much better than he had been when they had first met nearly a decade ago but he was still holding himself back.

“I know,” Derek whispered. He took a step closer to Stiles and met his gaze, holding it carefully. “I think I’m ready.”

There was something very serious hanging in the air around the two men and Stiles had to look away, the rollercoaster of the night not really settled in his mind yet. He dropped his gaze down to the bear in his hand and tried to lighten the mood instead, pushing his heart back down to his chest and out of his throat.

“Where the hell did you find this thing?” He asked with a small chuckle. “How did it even make it into a shop to be sold?”

Suddenly, Derek reached out a hand and made to snatch the bag back out of Stiles' hand but Stiles pulled it away quickly.

“No! Mine! You gave them to me; you can’t just take away someone’s presents! It doesn’t work like that, you unsociable weirdo.”

“You just insulted it!”

“Yeah, but it’s my gift to insult.”

“It’s still rude to insult something that someone buys you, especially when it comes with a heart-felt confession.”

“Well, maybe you should have bought me something better.” The words would have been harsh if it wasn’t for Stiles’ teasing smile and his joking tone.

“They were meant to be more like tokens rather than actual gifts,” Derek explained self-consciously. He dropped his gaze from Stiles’ again and shuffled his feet uncertainly.

“Well either way, they’re mine,” Stiles said, clutching the bear close to his chest and moving to hid the bag behind his back.

“That bear has a backwards ear and the word ‘Valentine’ is spelt wrong. It’s literally a Valentine’s Day gift and they spelt the main word wrong.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Derek. “And yet I love it.”

“Seriously?” Derek levelled Stiles with a blank look, as if expecting him to turn around and say that it was a joke.

“Yes,” Stiles said conclusively. “I’m gonna keep it forever. I’ll bring it out on every Valentine’s Day and rub it in your face.”

“Every year?” Derek asked, some of his tenseness slipping away.  “That’s a bit presumptuous, isn’t it?”

Stiles was suddenly hit with a wave of insecurity. Was he being presumptuous? Derek had only just realised that he feelings for Stiles and here Stiles was, basically marrying them for eternity. Stiles shook the thoughts away as he realised what Derek was doing; he was making himself vulnerable. Derek had followed him here this late at night and had even gone shopping to find gifts for Stiles, including going to _three stores_ for Reese’s Pieces – and Stiles knew that that was true because he’d gone to the closest store on the way home from Derek’s and he hadn’t found any there.

Stiles decided to roll with it and stood his ground. “Yes. On every anniversary.”

Derek smiled coyly and stepped forward slowly giving Stiles time to pull away. Stiles only threw the bag onto the couch behind him and closed the small distance that was left between them. They kissed passionately, both men relishing in the feeling of an embrace that they never thought they would have. Their hands gripped each other desperately as if afraid the other man would suddenly vanish. 

When they finally broke the kiss Derek lifted a hand and stroked it down the side of Stiles’ face, cradling his cheek gently. “Well, next year I’ll make sure to remember the date in advance and get to the store on time to buy you a decent bear.”

“I think this one is plenty decent, thank you,” Stiles said haughtily. He softened his tone and held Derek’s gaze. “A little bit broken but still perfect? Seems to be my type.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Come say hi!](http://s-horne.tumblr.com/)


End file.
